It has been two years since students in Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade had regular class sessions because of the Covid pandemic. Today Miami-Dade joined its neighbors in full face-to-face classes as the panic and fear that came with Covid have subsided, and the population has learned to live with the disease. Students returned to schools in Palm Beach last Wednesday while Broward County Public Schools opened its doors yesterday.
The Normalcy of going back to school is not without challenges, however. Florida schools are short about 8,000 teachers, and some schools are having difficulty accessing and providing books due to the restrictions of HB1467. The bill requires all reading material to be approved by an employee with a valid education media specialist certificate which some schools currently don’t have on staff.
Those issues aside however, here is what you need to know about your child’s educational experience in three South Florida counties:
The School District of Palm Beach County
- Face-to-face instruction will be provided for all students. If you wish to have virtual education, Palm Beach Virtual and Florida Virtual are available options.
- Social distancing will be encouraged to the extent possible.
- Students who test positive for COVID-19 will not be assigned to distance learning when self-isolating or in quarantine. While students must remain home, makeup work will be provided to the student.
- Middle school and high school athletics will return in accordance with the Florida High School Athletics Association. Concessions will also reopen.
- Clubs and school performances will resume in-person across all grade levels.
- Field trips will resume, as well as before and after school programs.
- Visitors and school volunteers can return to schools and must comply with all directions from school or office administrators.
- Students must continue to Register for bus transportation.
- Social distancing is still encouraged at bus stops.
- Lunches will be served and consumed in cafeterias. Breakfasts will be served in the cafeteria and grab-and-go breakfast is available where offered. Breakfast can be consumed in the classroom at the school’s discretion.
- Students will utilize student IDs for meals (recommended as of the first day of school and mandatory starting October 4th).
- Plexiglass will remain in common areas, and signage will remain to control student movement patterns.
- Each school has a Clorox 360 electrostatic cleaning device for enhanced cleaning.
- Enhanced cleaning and sanitation in all schools and offices will continue.
- Group restrooms will continue to have enhanced cleaning up to three times per day, and supplies will be continually replenished.
- MERV-13 filters will continue to be used on all compatible units.
Broward County Public Schools
- All instruction is 100% face-to-face in pre-K through 12th grade.
- Students eligible for transportation benefits and who wish to ride the bus must register to ride.
- A new App called “Here comes the bus” will be launched in September to help parents track their child’s bus.
- Standard seating capacity is in place on school buses.
- Breakfast and lunch meals will be provided at no cost for all students at 167 eligible schools.
- Cafeterias are open for meal service through the traditional food service line.
- Sports and athletic facilities are open.
- Schools can issue laptops to students who need them.
- If you are sick, stay home.
- Staff and students should perform a health self-examination each morning before school. View the Health Screening Checklist at https://bit.ly/BCPShealthcheck.
- A minimum of three feet will be maintained between students in classrooms, hallways, and indoor common spaces, when possible.
- Daily cleaning of high-frequency touch points is routine, along with weekly disinfection.
- Frequent hand washing is reinforced.
- The district continues to provide two nurses per school and offers voluntary COVID-19 testing at all schools, subject to parental consent.
- A new response protocol is now in place. Instead of color codes for emergencies, the words “lockdown,” “evacuate,” and “secure” will now be used.
- Hand-held metal detectors will be used to screen backpacks in random classrooms.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
- Free breakfast and lunch for all students
- The Dadeschools Mobile app is available to access important information, including class
- schedules, school grades, District news, and much more.
- M-DCPS offers a variety of after-school programs.
- If you live at least two miles away from your assigned school, your child may be eligible for safe and free transportation on a M-DCPS public school bus.
- All M-DCPS students are required to have the mandatory school-age vaccines for the 2022-2023 school year.
At this time, Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS ) is not updating its guidelines. M-DCPS will still identify and notify close contacts. It remains up to the parent/guardian if they wish to quarantine. The county’s COVID-19 mitigation strategies to minimize the spread of any communicable diseases include:
- Asking parents/guardians and employees to continue doing at-home screening and not report to school or work if they are experiencing flu-like symptoms.
- Deep cleaning
- Strongly encouraging the use of masks while indoors
- Physical distancing when possible
- Frequent handwashing
